The+Culture-+Tradtions+for+Congo

=__**Languages:**__= French, Lingala, Kiswahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba rench is the administrative language of the Congo. Lingala, Kikongo, Sangha, and Bateke are the most widely spoken native languages. There are sixty other languages in the Congo, crisscrossing national boundaries. There is another kind of Congolese language though, and that is the language of the talking drum. For generations, messages have been sent from village to village by the regulated beat of special drums. These are usually situated near the village chief's compound. In the past, everyone within ear-shot understood the meaning of the various rhythms. There were rhythms for death, birth, marriage, or the impending arrival of a dignitary. Talking drums are still used, but they are being replaced by radio, shortwave, and television. =__**Religions:**__= Christianity, IslamThe vast majority of the population identifies itself as Christian, primarily Catholic. Many continue to hold animist beliefs, believing that natural objects and phenomena have souls. They do not consider these beliefs contrary to monotheism (belief in one deity). Local animists long believed in one supreme god before the arrival of European missionaries. His name is Nzambi, and he can best be described as the omnipotent spirit of nature. One of the Congo's creation myths tells of Nzambi's great illness, back when the Earth was still completely covered with water. In his fits of coughing, he spat up the Sun, Moon, stars, animals, and people. And so the world was born by accident.

__• MAJOR HOLIDAYS__
The Congo's national holiday is celebrated on August 15. It commemorates the country's independence from France on that day in 1960. Independence Day is celebrated in streets, courtyards, houses, and bars. Beer and palm wine are consumed in large quantities. The preferred dish on this special occasion is chicken and rice. Chicken, or any form of animal protein, for that matter, often marks a special occasion. Other holidays include Christmas (December 25) and New Year's (January 1), Easter (late March or early April), All Saint's Day (November 1), and National Reconciliation Day (June 10)

=• __**LOCATION**__ = The Congo straddles the equator. Most of the land is covered by dense tropical forest. The rest is wooded savanna (grasslands), river valleys, and a small coastal plain. The Congo is about the size of the state of Montana. It is hot and very humid with high rainfall. The Congo's entire eastern and southern borders are washed by the Congo River. The role of this river in the lives of Congolese, past and present, can not be underestimated. Over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of unbroken navigable water serves as a highway for huge barges and dugout canoes, carting people and produce through Central Africa. People eat from the river, live on it in houses built high on stilts, take electric power from it, and hand pieces of it down through the generations in the form of inheritable fishing rights. =__**Life expectancy:**__= 47 years (men), 50 years (women) (UN)

__**Major sport activities:**__ > The Congolese enjoy listening and dancing to live or recorded Congolese jazz. > Nature paintings are very popular. > Congolese instruments include drums, stringed instruments, flutes made from millet stalks or bamboo, animal tusk horns, rattles made from gourds,trumpets made from gourds, metal, shells or wood, and the sanzi, a small hand held wooden box with metal teeth that are plucked by the thumbs. = =
 * The Congolese are especially fond of soccer
 * __**Musics**__
 * Traditional music serves a social purpose and is customarily performed by a group of people known as griots. Soukous is the music of the city, upbeat and celebratory. This musical style blends Cuban rhumba music with some elements of American Jazz and rock. Other influences include European polkas and marches, gospel songs and sailor's ballads
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